Relentless
by marap
Summary: They were supposed to be on the ship, escaping to Panama. But sometimes things don’t work according to plan. When their plan fails, Michael and Sara once again face a life on the run.
1. Chapter 1: Change of plans

**Relentless**

Summary: They were supposed to be on the ship, escaping to Panama. But sometimes things don't work according to plan. When their plan fails, Michael and Sara once again face a life on the run and struggle to maintain the belief that one day, this relentless battle will end.

(Spoilers: seasons one and two)

**Chapter One - **_**Change of Plans**_

_Author's Notes: Here's the first chapter of a Michael/Sara (Prison Break) fic I am working on. Having previously only written Prison Break oneshots, I have for quite some time wanted to write a multi-chaptered fic. And so I am ignoring season three canon and writing this MiSa fic beginning in late season two. Hope you guys like it. I really hope for the Michael/Sara community and fandom to continue to be active despite recent events, and so I suppose this is my little contribution. Feedback would be muchly appreciated. Thanks to my sister for all her help and suggesting the starting point for the fic._

x x x

To say Michael Scofield liked plans would be an understatement, but to say that he was naïve enough to believe that everything in life could be planned would be a lie. He had always easily grasped the knowledge that the future was difficult to predict, but had an undying belief that it was not beyond one's power to alter or shape it. And thus he liked to organise things, to make the arrangements that would allow for the future to – as much as possible – follow as he planned it. He had been one of those kids who had memorised their high school timetable, one of those college students who knew exactly how many drinks they would have at the party that night. It was in his nature to plan things, and combined with an extraordinary IQ, perhaps it was not entirely unexpected that he could devise an elaborate plan to break his brother out of prison. But the fact that he had _actually_ done it was another thing all together. Today should have been the day that they would begin again. That simple words uttered by the right person would grant them the sacred state of freedom that they would never again take for granted. But instead, it had become another day of running.

The strong wind so typical of Chicago was cold, and as Michael looked down on the docks from his position on the deck of the freighter, he saw them glisten with the remnants of the early morning rain. Lincoln stood beside him, a trace of a smile on his face. But Michael couldn't feel the same joy. Not only because they were still on the run, but also because someone was missing. Sara should've been there by now, and although Michael knew traffic could be bad and she could just be running late, her absence unsettled him. _"I'll be there."_ Her words repeated themselves in his head. There was no thought in his mind that she had changed her mind. Not this time. She hadn't hesitated when she had told him she would be there, and although her answer still seemed a little surreal, he knew she had meant it.

"She's not here…" he spoke quietly to himself. But when Lincoln looked up, he knew he had heard him. "Linc, I'm going to go and check if she's downstairs," he said while moving away from the railing.

"Okay," Lincoln responded. Adding a "Be careful."

Michael nodded and pulled his hat a little lower, hiding his eyes. Lincoln watched him disappear around the corner and make his way down the stairs to the lower level of the ship.

x x x

Michael moved quickly around the lower deck and not seeing Sara, he pulled out his cell phone and dialled her number. His fingers drummed anxiously on the back of the phone as he waited for her to answer.

After a moment, he heard her voice. "Michael," she answered with his name.

"Sara," he spoke her name with relief, but knew it was far from long-lasting. "What's happened?"

"I think…" she trailed off, as if nervous or unsure.

"What? Has someone got you?" The demanding tone of his voice was simply one of concern, fear for her safety.

"I think someone's following me."

Michael heard the anxious tone in her voice and combined with her words, he had to remind himself not to panic. Without thinking twice, he ran towards the stairs which connected the ship to the docks.

"Where are you?" he asked breathlessly as he hurried off the boat and onto the docks.

"Leadwell. A minute or so away from the shipyard."

"Okay. Just stay calm and keep driving," he said as he ran through a puddle on the docks and made his way towards the street adjoining them.

"Michael." She said his name with a slight panic, not even sure what she was going to say.

"I'm coming. Just hang on."

Michael stopped running and stressfully ran a hand over his head as he tried to figure out what to do. He couldn't let Sara get caught. After everything she had done for him and Lincoln, he would not let her freedom be sacrificed for their own.

x x x

Mahone sped the car up as he followed Sara Tancredi's vehicle. Agent Lang was closer to Sara, but he wanted to follow as well, especially if – as he hoped – Sara would lead them to Scofield. Both he and Lang might be needed to catch Sara anyway, for he knew she was intelligent and definitely unwilling to surrender. His cell phone rang, and he immediately picked it up, expecting it to be Lang again.

"Yeah?" he said.

"Alex, this is Michael Scofield."

"Scofield. What do you want?" Mahone demanded.

Michael responded immediately. "I want you to stop following Sara Tancredi."

"Scofield, if you think I'm just going to stop because you tell me to you are seriously mistaken," Mahone said with a chuckle.

"I'm prepared to tell you my location. Sara doesn't know it so there is no use in pursuing her. But if you stop following her, I will make it worth your while."

"How heroic, protecting Miss Tancredi?" Mahone scoffed. "How do I know this is not a trap, Scofield?"

"You don't," Michael admitted. "But how would you feel if you let an opportunity to catch me slip through your fingers?"

Mahone sighed. His instincts were telling him this was a bad idea. Michael sacrificing himself was all too easy, but at the same time, Mahone knew to the measures Michael would go to to protect those he loved. That was how this whole thing had begun in the first place.

x x x

Sara's breathing was becoming rapid and she could feel her heart rate speeding up. Michael had told her to keep driving, so she was. He had said he was coming. She wasn't sure exactly what that had meant, but it was a response so typical of Michael; reassuring yet enigmatic. Yet she didn't want him to come for her, she wanted him to be free, he was deserving of that. And she certainly didn't want him to get caught because of her. _"I shouldn't have told him I was being followed," _she thought to herself. But when she had heard Michael's beautiful voice, so concerned with her safety, she hadn't wanted to lie to him. Not in the face of such pure care for her, especially when she had never experienced that before.

When Sara looked in her rear-vision mirror for what must have been the twentieth time in the past few minutes, she had to blink to make sure she wasn't seeing things. The car following her had stopped a little way back. Why had they stopped? Was this part of their plan, to get Sara to stop and then catch her? Or had Michael…_ "Michael,"_ Sara thought. _"What did you do?"_


	2. Chapter 2: It begins again

**Chapter Two - **_**It begins again**_

Michael watched Mahone get out of the car and walk towards him. He had not planned for this, but he was hoping an idea would come to him. His actions weren't calculated, and that did concern him, but he had just known he could not let Sara get caught. He would rather let himself get caught than have eiher Sara or Lincoln come to harm because of him.

Michael observed that Mahone was alone, he could not see any backup. "Coming here alone, Alex?" Michael said when Mahone was close enough to hear him. "Risky." Mahone tucked a hand inside his jacket and pulled out his gun, holding it low, pointed towards the ground. "You're going to shoot me here? Anyone could see." He looked around at the street. A few pedestrians were visable, as well as cars driving by. "Not as careful as you were with Oscar Shales," he continued.

"Shut up," Mahone said, aggravated.

"Or you could arrest me. But then I'll be in police custody, protected. Less chance for you to find an opportunity to kill me."

"I'm the one with the gun, okay? So just quit talking," Mahone demanded, taking a step closer to Michael, his gun raised a little.

Suddenly, there was a noise behind Mahone, the sound of a shoe against the solid ground. Michael looked past Mahone to where the sound came from and saw who had made it. Sara. She was standing at a distance, and Michael observed the shocked expression on her face. Mahone quickly spun around, following Michael's gaze and similarly seeking the source of the sound.

Michael acted instinctively, and did the only thing he could think of that might get them out of this situation. Making use of Mahone's momentary distraction by Sara's sudden appearance, and his head being turned away, Michael lunged forward towards him. He grabbed Mahone's arm which clutched the gun, and using both hands, twisted it roughly behind Mahone's back. Mahone groaned in pain and unsuccessfully attempted to use his free arm to stop Michael's actions. Michael kicked Mahone in the back of the knee – a move Lincoln had taught him when they were kids – causing Mahone's legs to buckle slightly, as Michael managed to wrench the gun from Mahone's hand, still twisted behind his back.

"Michael," Sara said his name as she glanced over her shoulder at a middle aged man and woman who appeared to have stopped walking and were watching the scene from afar. The woman stood a step behind from the man and was firmly grasping his arm, as if holding him back.

Michael looked up and saw what Sara was seeing, a further indication that they needed to get away. Now.

Michael pointed the gun at Mahone as he walked backwards away from him. "Run, Sara. I'll be right behind you," he said to her while not tearing his eyes from Mahone.

"Running again is not going to help you, Michael," Mahone said.

"It's a better option that being killed, by you nonetheless," Michael said as he continued to walk backwards away from Mahone, increasing the distance between them before turning and running, following Sara.

x x x

Michael and Sara came to an empty rundown warehouse and ran into it, stopping for a minute to catch their breath. Sara took the opportunity to ask a question that had occurred to her while they were running. "Where's Lincoln?"

"On the ship."

"We've gotta get there then," she spoke quickly.

"It's too late," he stated simply. "The ship would have already left by now." No blame in his voice, he spoke matter-of-factly.

"Are you sure?" she questioned, despite knowing that Michael would be right. He always was. "We could hurry, it's not far and..." she rambled slightly, she couldn't believe this was happening.

"No. It was set to leave uh…" he glanced at his watch ever so briefly. "Eight minutes ago." Sara momentarily considered how he could read the time so exactly from such a fleeting look at his watch. But the thought quickly left her mind as slight panic ovetook her.

"What do we do?" she asked, eyes wide.

"We have to move," he spoke breathlessly.

"Where?"

"I'm not sure," Michael confessed. Sara couldn't hide the concern on her face, she could not recall ever having heard Michael say that he didn't know what their next movement would be. She was used to him knowing exactly what they would do, even in unplanned situations. But this time, in this very second, he didn't know the answer. They were both silent for a moment, and from the concentrating look on his face, Sara could tell Michael was attempting to calmy think of a solution. Her panic lessened when he soon spoke.

"Where's your car?" he asked.

"Right around the corner," she instinctively gestured over her shoulder.

"Okay," he walked over to a window and looked out, finding the street was deserted. He took a step closer to the door and looked behind him at Sara, stretching his arm towards her. "Come on." She hurried towards him and took his hand. Just before they moved out the door, he spoke softly to her. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she assured him with a brief smile.

Michael walked out the door with Sara following closely behind him. They stayed close to the side of the building as they moved around it, Sara keeping her eyes focused on Michael's back, looking down to avoid showing her face to anyone who happened to walk by. She only looked up when she felt Michael stop moving and realised they were at the passenger side of the car. She dug into her purse, strung over her shoulder, and pulled out the car keys, unlocking the door and then passing them to Michael. He took the keys and quickly opened the door and gently urged her in, before hurrying – yet remaining unwaveringly cool – around to the driver's side of the car and getting in behind the wheel. He buckled his seatbelt and briefly drummed his fingers on the steering wheel before starting the car and beginning to drive down the Chicago street. Sara wanted to ask where they were going, but didn't want to pressure Michael into coming up with answers for her, especially if he didn't have them. But after a brief moment, as if sensing Sara's worry and confusion, Michael spoke.

"We need to get out of Chicago tonight. Mahone knows we're here."

"Won't he know we'll be trying to get away then?" Sara questioned, and Michael recongised that she was becoming familiar with being on the run. The thought didn't bring him any comfort. She should forever remain a stranger to such a life.

"Yes, but we don't have much of a choice," Michael said.

"What about Panama? Aren't we going to try and get there?" Sara questioned. She could not imagine that Michael wouldn't want to meet up with Lincoln. Never in her life had she witnessed such a close bond between brothers, or perhaps anyone, as the bond between Michael and Lincoln.

"Not yet," Michael said, a typical hint of mystery in his voice.

"But what about Lincoln?"

"He's safe," Michael said with a hint of relief. "But we've got Mahone and his agents on our tail and if we try and join him, we'll lead them right to him."

There was silence for a moment. Michael's words, although Sara knew it was not his intention, reminded her of the guilt she had been feeling ever since Michael had come back for her – and nearly been caught. She wanted, needed, to apologise. "Michael, I'm sorry. I should have known I would be followed. If you hadn't had to worry about me you wouldn't have missed the ship."

"No, Sara. This is not your fault. You couldn't have known."

Sara nodded, a lock of hair falling in her face. She still felt guilty, but there was no point arguing about whether the guilt was justified or not, especially when she knew Michael would never say anything to make her think it was.

"I would never leave you to get caught." Michael said easily. It was not false words for comfort, it was simply the truth. Sara smiled fleetingly, but Michael saw it.

_AN – I hope you liked it, reviews are very much appreciated!_


End file.
